Heinze may join Bielsa at OM - Lucho

Lucho Gonzalez has backed his former boss Marcelo Bielsa and ex-teammate Gabriel Heinze to be successful at Marseille should the pair unite at the Stade Velodrome.

Heinze and Lucho won the Ligue 1 title together at Marseille in 2010.

Bielsa, 58, is expected to sign a three-year deal in the coming days to take over as OM boss as of the start of next season with former Marseille defender Heinze, 36, mooted to comprise part of the new coach's backroom staff on the French Riviera.

In tandem with Heinze, Lucho won the Ligue 1 title with Marseille in 2009-10, a triumph that helped the former win over OM fans sceptical of his previous association with their arch-rivals, Paris Saint-Germain.

Though still playing in his native country with Newell's Old Boys, Heinze has reportedly been sounded out to take up a role under Bielsa at OM with the former Manchester United and Real Madrid full-back's pedigree with the 1992-93 Champions League winners a major asset.

"I have spoken to him, but he still doesn't know," Lucho told RMC. "He's not decided yet. But if Gabi does go, of course it would be a lot better, because he knows the club and the players who are there."

After being given his international debut for Argentina by Bielsa in 2003, Lucho said the Ligue 1 club are about to hire themselves a top-grade performer in the dug-out.

"For me, he's the best coach I've had the fortune to work with," the 33-year-old midfielder, who left Porto to join Qatari outfit Al Rayyan in January, said. "He's a phenomenon. With him, there's always a lot of passion, a lot of work.

"I think he can be successful because he has a lot of passion for his work. He demands the maximum of each player. He prepares every last detail for each training session. That's why the people who talk about him say good things. If the supporters are patient, if they're behind the team, things will certainly go well.

"It's good not only for OM, but for French football. It's great to be able to work with a coach like that. I have faith in him. He's going to show all of his ability there."